How we Identify Need
We will assess each student’s current skills and levels of attainment on entry, which will build on previous settings and Key Stages, where appropriate. Class teachers will make regular assessments of progress for all pupils and identify those whose progress:
- Is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
- Fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
- Fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
- Widens the attainment gap
This may include progress in areas other than attainment, for example, social needs.
Slow progress and low attainment do not necessarily mean that a child has SEN and does not automatically lead to a pupil being recorded as having SEN. However they may be an indicator of a range of learning difficulties or disabilities. Equally, it is not assumed that attainment in line with chronological age means that there is no learning difficulty or disability.
Persistent, disruptive or withdrawn behaviours do not necessarily mean that a child or young person has SEN.
Other events can lead to social difficulties, such as bullying, bereavement or complex home circumstances. Such events will not always lead to children having SEN but it can have an impact on wellbeing and sometimes this can be severe. Professionals such as: pastoral staff, the medical needs officer and the school nurse can make appropriate provision for these students' short term needs in order to prevent problems escalating. We also have our social and emotional wellbeing facility ‘HART’ that the pastoral and inclusion team can refer students into.